Belt abrader



Oct. 5, 1965 P. J. ROBISCHUNG 3,209,495

BELT ABRADER Original Filed Aug. 27, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 L441? PH/LL/P J, ROB/SCHUNG A TTORNEYS Oct. 5, 1965 P. J. ROBISCHUNG 3,209,495

BELT ABRADER Original Filed Aug. 2'7, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. PHILLIP J. ROB/SCHUNG TTORNE Y5 Oct. 5, 1965 P. J. ROBISCHUNG 3,299,495

BELT ABRADER Original Filed Aug. 27, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 MW A hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn INVENTOR. PH/LL/P J. ROBISCHUNG 2/ ZMW/W A TTORNEYS Oct. 5, 1965 P. J. ROBISCHUNG 3,209,495

BELT ABRADER Original Filed Aug. 27, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 H2 I09 INVENTOR.

j PH/LL/P J ROB/SCHUNG A TTO/PNE Y5 Oct. 5, 1965 P. J. ROBISCHUNG 3,209,495

BELT ABRADER Original Filed Aug. 27, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. PH/LL /P J. ROB/SCHUNG A 7 TOR/VEYS Oct. 5, 1965 P. J. ROBISCHUNG 3,209,495

BELT ABRADER Original Filed Aug. 27, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR.

PH/LL /P J. ROB/SCHUNG A TTOP/VfYS United States Patent 1ce 3,209,495 BELT ABRADER Phillip J. Robischung, Kalamazoo, Mich., assignor to Hammond Machinery Builders, Inc., Kalamazoo, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Original application Aug. 27, 1962, Ser. No. 219,397 now Patent No. 3,153,306, dated Oct. 20, 1964. Divided and this application Apr. 16, 1964, Ser. No. 368,748

11 Claims. (Cl. 51148) This application is a division of my cope'nding application Serial No. 219,397, filed August 27, 1962, now Patent No. 3,153,306. The invention disclosed in this application relates to abrasive belt metalworking machines and particularly to a type thereof utilizing a belt of the order of from four inches in width to as little as oneeighth of an inch in width and readily adaptable to a wide range of specific uses.

Although the use of abrasive !belt metalworking machines is not new, these machines have, insofar as I am aware, usually been confined to somewhat specialized uses, or at least any given machine has been capable of only a relatively narrow range of possible uses. Hence, there has remained a need for an abrasive belt machine, especially one adaptable for polishing the contours of irregularly shaped articles, which is extremely versatile and capable of handling a wide range of shapes and sizes of articles. However, the filling of this need creates certain problems in that the adapting of such a device to a wide variety of specific uses involves the provision of contact wheels 'of various diameters, widths, degrees of softness and other characteristics together with the provision of sufficient varying ways of mounting the contact wheel as to permit it to cooperate properly with workpieces of many different shapes.

Some initial attempts to meet these needs have been made in the machine illustrated in the United States Patents to Bader No. 2,578,662 and No. 2,763,103, and these machines have achieved some commercial success. However, the constructions involved in these patents, and others of similar nature, have not been wholly satisfactory, particularly at the point of providing good sensitivity of belt-tracking adjustment and at the point of providing good versatility or adaptability to different types of work, and it is therefore desired to provide a machine which improves over the prior art at these and other points.

Accordingly, the objects of the invention include:

(1) To provide an abrasive belt machine having a high degree of versatility for handling irregular and contoured workpieces of a wide variety of shapes and sizes.

(2) To provide a machine, as aforesaid, which will effectively polish a number of different surfaces both con cave and convex in articles of relatively small size and complex curvatures, such as golf club heads, cutlery, firearms, jet engine parts, plumbing goods, household and marine hardware, and the like.

(3) To provide a machine, as aforesaid, having a plurality of contact wheels, or heads, and in which machine said heads can be quickly and easily changed from one to another as desired to accommodate various kinds of workpieces.

(4) To provide a machine, as aforesaid, wherein one contact wheel may be freely interchanged with a variety 3,209,495 Patented Oct. 5, 1965 of other contact wheels of differing diameters, widths of materials.

(5) To provide a machine, as aforesaid, wherein the belt-tracking means is extremely sensitive so that the belt may be adjusted by the workman during operation of the machine for riding at any desired point on the contact wheel including extending slightly over one edge thereof (6) To provide a machine, as aforesaid, wherein the direction of rotation of the drive pulley may be reversed, even while the machine is running and without throwing off the belt, in order to reverse the direction of movement of the belt as needed to accommodate it to various types, sizes and shapes of workpieces.

(7) To provide a machine, as aforesaid, wherein the tensioning means for the belt may be either mechanical or fluid pressure operated, as desired, and wherein such tensioning means can be easily interchanged.

(8) To provide a machine, as aforesaid, which will be inexpensive to manufacture and which can be maintained in good operating condition with a minimum of maintenance cost.

Other objects and purposes of the invention will be apparent to persons acquainted with apparatus of this general type upon reading the following disclosure and inspection of the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective View of the apparatus embodying the invention. I

FIGURE 2 is a partially broken away, side view taken from the rightward side of the apparatus shown in FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a front end view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a broken sectional view taken on the line IVIV of FIGURE 3 showing a spring belt-tensioning device.

FIGURE 5 is a partially broken away, sectional view taken along the line VV of FIGURE 4 showing the mounting of the idler wheel.

FIGURE 6 is a side view of a modified contact wheel mounting.

FIGURE 7 is a partially sectional view substantially as taken along the line VI-IVII of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 7a is a fragment of FIGURE 7 drawn on a larger scale for better clarity.

FIGURE 8 is a side view of another modified contact wheel mounting. I I

FIGURE 9 is a top view of FIGURE 8. I

FIGURE 10 is a sectional view taken along the line X-X of FIGURE 2. I I I FIGURE 11 shows an attachment for use with the contact wheel of FIGURES 8 and 9 for adapting same to a modified use.

FIGURE 12 is an end view of the device shown in FIGURE ll.

FIGURE 13 shows a 'n attachment for use with the contact wheel head of FIGURES 7 and 8 to adapt same to a modified use.

I FIGURE 14 is an end view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 13.

FIGURE 15 is a section taken on the line XV XV of FIGURE 13.

FIGURE 16 shows a still further modified contact wheel arrangement.

FIGURE 17 is a partially broken top View of the device shown in FIGURE 16.

Detailed description Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIGURES 1 and 2, there is shown a base 1 supporting a pedestal 2, both thereof being of generally rectangular construction preferably fabricated from suitable welded sheet stock, reinforced at 2a (FIGURE if desired, and supporting a pan 3 at the upper end thereof. A horizontal beam 4, suitably channeled to minimize weight but ribbed to provide strength, is pivoted at 6 to the pedestal 2and clamped at 7 by any convenient clamp means anchored in a clamp plate 2b and extending through an arcuate opening 8 by which said beam 4 may be arranged as desired to raise or lower the hereinafter-mentioned contact wheel portion thereof to a convenient working height.

At the rightward end of the horizontal beam 4, as appearing in FIGURE 2, there is supported a motor 11 which is hung in any convenient manner by suitable means, such as bolts 12 and 13, from the lower surface of the beam 4. The motor 11 carries a pulley 14 on its shaft which pulley preferably is uncrowned.

The extreme rightward end of said beam 4 carries a vertically arranged split sleeve 16 which supports an upstanding tubular pulley support member 17. Clamping means, such as the bolt indicated at 18, is provided for holding said tubular member 17 rigidly in position. The upper idler pulley 19 is supported for free rotation on and with respect to a sleeve 21 which encircles the tubular member 17 and is vertically slidable with respect thereto. A vertically elongated slot 22 (FIGURES 4 and 5) is provided in said tubular member 17 at a suitable location thereon. A pulley tension adjusting screw 23 is coaxially arranged within said tubular member 17. Its lower end is threadedly received into a guide 24 which is vertically slidable within the tubular member 17. A rotation-preventing block 26 rides in the slot 22 and is fastened by a screw 27 to said guide 24 and prevents rotation thereof. A collar 28 has an unthreaded opening 29 therein encircling the screw 23 and said collar is,held fixed with respect to the sleeve 21 by a positioning block 31 which is received into a boss 32 on the sleeve 21 and which is fixedly secured thereto by a set screw 33. A screw 34 fastensthe block 31 rigidly to the collar 28. A spring 36 extends between the collar 28 and the guide 24.

The upper end of the screw 23 extends through a hearing block 37 which is fixed to the upper end of the tubular member 17 in any convenient manner, such as by screws 38. An adjusting hand crank 39 is fixed to the upper end of the screw 23 and is provided with any convenient means for manual rotation, such as the knob 41. Thus, rotation of the hand crank 39 will raise or lower the guide 24 which acts through the spring 36 to control the vertical position of the sleeve 21 and thereby control the vertical posit-ion of the upper idler 19.

The upper idler 19 is crowned for belt-tracking purposes in a conventional manner.

Turning now to the means for mounting the contact wheel, a number of different devices are provided according to the size and type of contact wheel to be mounted. Referrring first to the contact wheel 64 shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, there is provided a yoke 51 having a smoothly machined lower surface 52 which is mounted on a correspondingly smoothly machined surface 53 on the upper side of the leftward end of the beam 4, the same being held thereon by any convenient means such as screws of which one appears at 54. The yoke 51 is provided with upper and lower arms 56 and 57 between which is pivotally mounted a bearing housing 58. The bearing housing 58 has vertically extending 4 pivot pins 60 and 60a which are pivotally supported in the arms 56 and 57, respectively, for pivotal movement about a vertical axis. The bearing housing 58 contains conventional bearing units within which is mounted a shaft 61 upon which is mounted in a known manner the contact roller or wheel 64.

One of the objects of the invention being to provide a device which can be readily converted to use with other sizes and types of contact wheels and to use with other belt-tensioning means, attention will now be directed to the means by which this further objective is accomplished.

Turning now to the means for applying a small contact wheel to the end of the beam 4 in place of the large contact wheel 64, attention is directed to FIGURES 6 and 7. Here a bracket 101 is secured by suitable means, such as the screws 102 and 103, to the leftward end of the beam 4. A suitable plurality of screw holes may be provided in said beam, such as the pairs of openings indicated at 104, 104a, 105, 105a, and 110a, in order to adjust the position of the bracket 101 according to the size of contact wheel which is to be used in a given instance.

The leftward end of the bracket 101 is provided with a groove 106 (FIGURE 6) into which is fitted a tongue 107 at the rightward end of a mounting block 108. Said mounting block 108 has a tubular portion 109 whose central opening 109a (FIGURES 7 and 7a) extends parallel with the lengthwise extent of beam 4. The wheel arm base 111 has a pin 112 afiixed rigidly thereto which pin extends into the central opening 109a in the tubular portion 109 in the block 108. A screw 113 extending through a slot 11311 bears against the flange 114 of the bracket 101 and extends at 113a (FIGURE 7a) threadedly into said block 108. Thus, the screw 113 and slot 106 will combine to hold the block 108 rigidly with respect to the bracket 101. The block 108 can be moved toward and away from the beam 4 along the groove 106 when the screw 113 is loosened. Thus, the block 108 may be adjusted with respect to the bracket 101 as needed to position the roller 118 and wheel 123 on the same axial center line as the back rollers 14 and 19 (FIGURE 2). Scribe lines may, if desired, be provided to assist this positioning which, for example, may consist of spaced lines L L and L Each of these represents, or is in a fixed position with respect to, the axial center line of one width of roller 118 and wheel 123 and may be matched with the scribe line L; on the bracket 101, which latter scribe line represents, or is in a fixed position with respect to, the axial center of the rollers 14 and 19.

Any suitable clamp means 115 may be provided for effecting pivotal movement of said base 111 and pin 112 with respect to the block 108 and then releasably locking same to said block. Here, a rod 116 extends through a suitably vertically elongated slot in the side of the tubular portion 109 and said rod is threadedly secured to the pin 112. The rod 116 carries a washer which is frictionally engageable with the external surface of the block 108 to prevent movement of rod 116 within slot 120. Thus, when rod 116 is rotated about its axis to back washer 125 away from the block 108, said rod can be moved vertically Within slot 120 to thereby effect pivotal movement of pin 112 and base 111. When the washer 125 engages the block 108 pivotal movement of the pin 112 cannot occur.

The base 111 is fixed rigidly, as by welding, to the arm 117 which preferably is provided with means for mounting a guide pulley 118 in any one of several positions as required according to the size of contact wheel being used. A plurality of spaced openings, of which one is indicated at 122, provide for the alternate positioning of the guide pulley 118. Here the guide pulley 118 is ro-' tatably mounted on a stub shaft 119 which is held in one of said openings in the arm 117 by a screw 121., A con-- tact roller or wheel 123, which can be of any known kind and type and which may be of a variety of different diameters and widths, is mounted rotatably upon a stub shaft 124 which is received into a suitable opening 126 in the arm 117 and held therein by the screw 127.

The idler 118 is important in this embodiment for providing Slll'fiCiCl'lt wrap-around to control the tracking of the belt on the relatively small contact wheel. The idler 118 is preferably crowned for maximum belt-tracking control.

Tracking of the belt is in this instance accomplished by loosening the clamp 115 slightly to move washer 125 away from block 108, and moving the rod 116 vertically to rotate the base 111 around the axis of the pin 112. When suitable tracking is attained, the clamp 115 is again tightened and the apparatus is again ready for use.

FIGURES 8 and 9 illustrate a still further mounting for use with contact rollers as small as one inch in diameter and one inch in width. The bracket 101 is the same as that above described in connection with FIGURES 6 and 7 and is affixed to the beam 4 in the same manner as above described but preferably more forwardly as shown. The mounting block 108 with its tubular end portion 109 together with the pin 112, the scribe line L; and the screw 113 also are identical with the corresponding numbered parts of FIGURES 6 and 7 and need no further description. The adjusting rod 116 is also the same as that above described and it is threaded into the pin 112 and passes through a vertically elongated slot in the side of the tubular end portion 109 to enable the rod 116 to rotate the pin 112 about its axis for belt-tracking purposes. In the device of FIGURES 8 and 9, however, the pin 112 is fastened to a block 131 and a pair of wheel-supporting arms 132 and 133 are fastened by any convenient means, such as the bolts 134 and 136, through suitable spacers 137 and 138 to the block 131. In this instance, the spacers 137 are mounted between the arms 132 and 133 and the block 131 and additional spacers 138 are mounted outside of said arms. This is suitable for a Wheel or roller of intermediate width. For a narrower wheel the spacers 137 will be moved outside of said arms and for a wider wheel the spacers 138 will be moved inside of said arms beside the spacers 137. The roller or contact wheel 141 is rotatably mounted on and between the ends of the arms 132 and 133 in any conventional manner, hereby shaft 142 which is received into U-shaped openings in the ends of said arms and fastened therein by screws 143. When the adjustment has been completed, the screw 113 may be tightened. In this case, in contrast with the open side contact wheel of FIGURES 6 and 7, the axial center line of the contact wheel 141 is concentrio with the center line of the pin 112 regardless of the Width of the wheel. This would logically suggest another scribe line appropriately positioned near the line L mentioned above. However, this results in too many marks, in close quarters, especially when same are accompanied by notations indicating the size of wheel to be associated with each scribe mark. Therefore, a further feature of the invention contemplates turning the block 108 on the pin 112 through 180 degrees, reseating the tongue 107 in the groove 106 and using a scribe line L on the opposite side of the block 108 from the other scribe lines above mentioned. This places the tracking handle 115 as shown but since the bracket 101 is at the end of the beam 4, the handle 115 clears the end of said beam and may be easily manipulated.

The tracking adjustment, as in the structure of FIG- URES 6 and 7, is carried out by slightly loosening the clamp 115 and utilizing the rod 116 to effect a rotation of the pulley-mounting structure about the axis of the pin 112. When tracking is satisfactorily attained, the clamp 115 is again tightened.

It will be noted that the structure of FIGURES 8 and 9 is such that the axis of the pin 112 passes through the center of the wheel 141 which is desirable in effecting the tracking thereof regardless of the size of the pulley. On the other hand, the structure of FIGURES 6 and 7 provides an open-faced contact wheel capable of considerable size variation. However, the center line of the pin 112 comes sufiiciently close to the center of the contact wheel that tracking of the belt thereon is still satisfactorily accomplished. 4

In FIGURES 1-1 and 12 there is shown an attachment for use with the contact wheel head of FIGURES 8 and 9. Said attachment includes auxiliary blocks 151 and 152, each having internal recesses 153 and 154, respectively, for embracing the supporting arms 132 and 133. Any suitable means such as set screws 156 and 157 are provided for holding said blocks onto said arms. A pair of rollers 158 and 159 are rotatably and coaxially mounted respectively at the upper ends of the blocks 151 and 152 with their common axis above the axis of the roller 141. A further pair of rollers 161 and 162 are rotatably and coaxially mounted on the blocks 151 and 152 in a location rather substantially offset from a line joining the common axis of the rollers 158 and 159 with the axis of the roller 141 in a direction toward, or even beyond, the outer end of the arms 132 and 133. Thus, the line joining the common axis of the rollers 158 and 159 with the common axis of the rollers 161 and 162 will be at an angle of somewhat less than 90 degrees, as about 75 degrees or degrees with the longitudinal axis of the arms 132 and 133 and hence with the horizontal when said fixture is in its normal position of use. A freely running roller 163 is placed for support on and by said pairs of rollers as shown with the one end 164 supported by the rollers 158 and 161 and the other end 166 supported by the rollers 159 and 162. The abrasive belt B may now be passed over the roller 163 as well as the roller 141 and this provides a curved surface at the roller 163 of very small radius which can be used effectively for many different kinds of work and also provides immediately adjacent thereto an area 167 which is fiat but short and hence adaptable to other and different kinds of work. A guide roller 163, preferably crowned, may also be provided to assist in tracking said belt by obtaining greater wrap-around of the belt with respect to roller 163. For some kinds of work the belt may bypass the roller 141 and return from the roller 163 along the path indicated in broken lines at B It will be recognized that the attachment illustrated by FIGURES l1 and 12 can be readily applied to and removed from the arms 132 and 133 without disturbing said arms or the roller 1-41 associated therewith and hence the attachment may be applied and removed very quickly. Further, since the entire attachment is carried on the arms 132 and 133, the same belt-tracking means provided for the fixtures shown in FIGURES 7 and 8 will be effective also for the composite fixture shown in FIGURES l1 and 12.

It will also be apparent that the size of the roller 163 may be readily changed as desired to provide a curved working surface at 108 of different diameters as desired.

Turning now to FIGURES 13, 14 and 15, and with reference to the contact wheel head shown in FIGURES 6 and 7 the portions of the contact wheel head shown in FIGURES 13 and 14 are identical to the mechanism shown in FIGURES 6 and 7 and are numbered with the same numbers and accordingly no further description is needed.

The attachment shown here is for providing a substantially vertical but conformable zone 171 on a belt for effecting various working operations together with closely adjacent both top and bottom curved surfaces at 172 and 173. The attachment is adjustable to accommodate the inclination of the zone 171 to the desire of the operator, usually determined by whether the work is carried out with the operator in a standing or sitting position.

The attachment has a frame base 174 attachable by any convenient means, such as screws 176 and 177, to the lower side of the forward or leftward end 4a of the arm 4. An auxiliary arm 178 is pivotally aflixed at 179 the leftward end of the base 174 and carries at its extremity a wheel-supporting arm 181. Wheel-supporting arm 181 is located within a notch 185 at the extremity of the arm 178 and is at one end pivotally fastened thereto at 182 and at its other end carries rotatably the idler pulley 183. A belt-tracking device 184 is provided adjacent the pivot 182 and may be of any convenient type. In this particular embodiment the belt-tracking device 184 consists of a screw 186 which extends through a threaded opening 187 to bear against the surface 188 of the notch 185. Rotation of the screw 186 within the opening 187 will effect pivotal movement of the mounting arm 181 and the pivot point 182 and hence provide an effective tracking adjustment for the belt B on and with respect to the pulley 183.

An adjustable brace 191 is pivotally fastened at 192 to the arm 178 and adjustably fixed at 193 to a lug 194 extending downwardly from the rearward end of the base 174. Thus, with the parts in the position shown, the zone 171 of the belt B is substantially vertical and thereby convenient for use by a workman in a standing position. However, by loosening the fastener 193 and moving the brace 191 back into the position shown in broken lines 191a the zone 171 of said belt may be caused to face somewhat downwardly and hence be more conveniently positioned for a workman in a sitting position.

The zone 171 of the belt B is unsupported so that it can conform itself to the shape of an irregularly shaped workpiece. Inasmuch as the ease with which, and extent to which, the belt will flex and conform itself to the surface of a workpiece improves with a lengthening of the zone 171, said zone will be made as long as possible within the limits of the other dimensions of the machine. In any event, it will be at least long enough to permit the belt to conform to the part being finished.

It will be noted that the use of the attachment shown in these figures does not in any way interfere with the belt-tracking adjustment already made with respect to the pulley 123 and with the pulley 183 independently adjustable for suitable belt-tracking purposes, appropriate adjustment may be made upon either addition of said attachment to the structure shown in FIGURES 6 and 7 or upon the removal of said attachment from said structure. It will also be noted that the addition of said attachment to the base structure illustrated in FIGURES 6 and 7, as well as its removal therefrom, is carried out merely by an appropriate manipulation of the screws 176 and 177 and hence can be done both quickly and easily.

In FIGURES l6 and 17 there is shown a further mounting head for the contact wheels which is adapted for mounting in the same manner as the mounting heads shown in FIGURES 6 through 9, inclusive, but is arranged to have both axial ends of the contact wheel open in order either that work may be done on either side thereof or in order that work may be done in a restricted area such as in the bottom of a slot.

For this contact wheel head there is provided a supporting arm 201 having a base portion 202 into which is rigidly mounted a pin 203 which corresponds to the pin 112 shown in FIGURE 7, and is adapted for mounting into the Opening into the tubular end portion 109 of the mounting lblock 108 as further shown and described in detail in connection with FIGURES 6 and 7.

Said arm 201 has an oifset portion 204 into which is rigidly received a mounting stud 205. A V-belt pulley 206 is rotatably mounted on the mounting stud 205 in any convenient manner and is held thereon by the screw 210. It will be noted that the V-portion of the pulley 206 is centered on an axis X which intersects the axis of said pulley 206 and also coincides with the axis of the mounting pin 203.

The arm 201 terminates in a locating surface 207 which preferably is bounded by rigid guides 208 and 209. An extension arm 211 is provided with a plurality of screw openings of which two are indicated at 212 for the reception of screws 213 and 214. Said screws 213 and 214 extend through an appropriate slot 215 in the end of the arm 201 and into the threaded openings 212. Thus, the extension arm 211 may be adjusted as desired with respect to the supporting arm 201 and locked into position by tightening of the screws 213 and 214.

A further V-belt pulley 216 is mounted at the extremity of the extension arm 211 in any manner by which both sides thereof is open, the thickness of said pulley being substantially equal to the thickness of the extension arm 211. In this embodiment, said arm 211 has an extension 211a of somewhat reduced thickness, which extension has an opening 217 therein and the pulley 216 is provided in separable halves 216a and 21Gb which are connected together by suitable screws of which two are shown at 218 and 219. The pulley 216 is positioned so that the above-mentioned axis X is located for dividing the pulley into two equal halves and said axis X also intersects the rotative axis of said pulley 216. The pulleys 206 and 216 are preferably of equal diameters but this may be modified as desired.

The V-belt 221 is arranged around the pulleys 206 and 216 to provide a support for the abrasive belt B.

Thus, there is provided a narrow elongated support for an abrasive belt by which same may be utilized in various confined areas, but which can be readily inserted into the same head mounting as described for the contact wheel heads shown in FIGURES 6 to 9, inclusive, and whereby the belt tracking may be easily accomplished in the same manner as shown for FIGURES 6 to 9, inclusive.

Thus, there is provided an extremely versatile abrasive belt machine which is especially adapted to the finishing of a wide variety of different kinds and sizes of irregular and contoured workpieces. Particularly, the versatility of this machine is enhanced by providing the machine with the ability to receive contact wheels of many different sizes, types, styles and means for supporting same all of which can be readily interchanged with respect to each other and wherein such interchanging either (a) will not upset previously established belt-tracking adjustments or (b) if a new belt-tracking adjustment is required it may be readily and simply carried out by the workman without his leaving his normal position of use of the machine.

Although a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed herein for illustrative purposes, it will be understood that variations or modification of such disclosure, which lie within the scope of the appended claims are fully contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. A bracket structure for supporting a contact wheel of an abrasive belt machine comprising:

a bracket having a mounting surface and means defining a support means extending laterally from said mounting surface;

mounting means slidably disposed on said support means for movement toward and away from said mounting surface and means for releasably locking said mounting means in fixed position on said support means;

a contact wheel base supported on said mounting means for rotation about a first horizontal axis parallel with said mounting surface;

means for releasably locking said contact wheel base in fixed position on said mounting means; and

a contact wheel supported on said wheel base for rotation about a second horizontal axis transverse to said first axis..

2. An abrasive belt machine, comprising in combination:

a base and a pedestal extending upwardly from the base;

a substantially horizontally extending beam mounted on said pedestal;

a pair of vertically spaced rollers and means secured to one end of said beam for rotatably supporting said rollers, one of said rollers being driven;

a contact roller mounted for rotation around a substantially horizontal axis at the other end of said beam, the centers of each of said three rollers lying within a common, substantially vertical plane;

a belt extending around said rollers;

bracket means secured to said beam near said other end thereof and rotatably mounting said contact roller on said beam, said bracket means including means supporting said contact roller for pivotal movement with respect to said bracket about another substantially horizontal axis substantially passing through the said axis of rotation of said contact roller;

manually manipulatable means for effecting said pivotal movement; and

whereby said contact roller may be adjusted for tracking of the belt with a minimum of movement thereof.

3. The machine defined in claim 2 wherein the bracket means is detachably mounted on the end of said beam;

at least one arm extending from said bracket means in a direction substantially parallel with said vertical plane for mounting the contact roller at the end thereof;

means mounting said arm pivotally on said bracket means for pivotal movement with respect thereto about said other substantially horizontal axis, said other horizontal axis being substantially parallel with said vertical plane and passing substantially perpendicularly through the axis of said rotation of said contact roller.

4. An abrasive belt machine, comprising:

a base and a pedestal extending upwardly from the base;

a substantially horizontally extending beam mounted on said pedestal;

a pair of vertically spaced rollers and means secured to one end of said beam for supporting said rollers;

the other end of said beam having a plurality of machined mounting surfaces thereon, one of said surfaces being substantially horizontally disposed and another of said surfaces being substantially vertically disposed;

a bracket having a machined attaching surface which is disposed against one of said machined surfaces on said beam and is secured thereto, said bracket projecting from said other end of said beam and being held against movement with respect to said beam;

a shaft support pivotally mounted on said bracket for pivotal movement about a substantially horizontal axis extending lengthwise of said beam;

a contact roller having a shaft rotatably supported in said shaft support for rotation about a horizontal axis transverse to said pivotal axis; and

means on said bracket for effecting pivotal movement of said shaft support with respect to said bracket.

5. An abrasive belt machine, comprising:

a base and a pedestal extending upwardly from the base;

a substantially horizontally extending beam mounted on said pedestal;

a pair of vertically spaced rollers and means secured to one end of said beam for supporting said rollers;

the other end of said beam having a plurality of machined mounting surfaces thereon, one of said surfaces being substantially horizontally disposed and another of said surfaces being substantially vertically disposed;

a bracket mounted on one of said machined surfaces and projecting beyond said other end of said beam,

said bracket having a first flange which is parallel with said vertical machined surface and is secured thereto for holding said bracket against movement with respect to said beam, said bracket having a second flange which extends laterally from said first flange and has a laterally extending groove therein;

a mounting block mounted in said groove for sliding movement toward and away from said beam;

means for releasably securing said mounting block in fixed position with respect to said groove, said mounting block having a central opening therein which extends parallel with the lengthwise extent of said beam;

a contact roller and support means rotatably supporting said contact roller, said support means being mounted on said bracket for pivotal movement with respect to said bracket about an axis transverse to the axis of rotation of said contact roller, and said support means comprising an elongated contact roller support base having a pin extending lengthwise at one end thereof, said pin being disposed within said central opening in said mounting block for rotation with respect thereto, whereby said roller support base may be rotated about an axis extending lengthwise thereof and transverse to the axis of rotation of said contact roller; and

means associated with said means on said bracket for effecting pivotal movement for releasably locking said roller support base with respect to said mounting block.

6. An abrasive belt machine according to claim 5, in which said contact roller support base has a pair of parallel V-belt pulleys spaced apart along the lengthwise extent of said support base and rotatable about parallel axes, one of said pulleys forming said contact roller, and an endless V-belt extending around said pulleys.

7. An abrasive belt machine according to claim 5 including a first pair of support rollers supported above said contact wheel and a second pair of support rollers supported below said first pair of rollers and offset horizontally therefrom in a direction away from said bracket, said second pair of support rollers being each, respectively, peripherally adjacent the rollers of said first pair, and a roller having each of its ends supported upon a pair of peripherally adjacent ones of said support rollers whereby an abrasive belt may extend around said lastnamed roller and said contact wheel for providing a curve of small diameter in said contact wheel for contour abrading.

8. An abrasive belt machine according to claim 5 wherein said groove and the portions of said mounting block cooperating therewith are symmetrical, at least one scribe mark appropriate for matching said mounting block and said bracket under one set of conditions on one side of said mounting block and at least one scribe mark appropriate for matching said mounting block and said bracket under another set of conditions on the other side of said mounting block, whereby said mounting block may be positioned with the appropriate side visable to an operator according to the set of conditions under which the apparatus is to operate.

9. An abrasive belt machine according to claim 5 including an idler roller, base means removably afiixable to the other end of said beam and a link pivotally supported at one end on said base and extending to a point below said contact roller, said idler roller being rotatably supported on the other end of said link and spaced below said contact roller a distance suflicient to permit the portion of the belt between said contact roller and said idler roller to conform to the work; means adjustably determining the angular relationship of said link to said base whereby the position of said idler roller with respect to said contact roller may be adjusted.

10. An abrasive belt machine according to claim 9 wherein the means for mounting said idler roller onto said link includes shaft means having means at its one end for rotatably supporting said idler roller and having means at its other end for pivotally affixing said other end to said link; means adjustably determining the pivotal relationship of said shaft means to said link, the arc of said pivotal movement of said idler roller being generally perpendicular to a plane tangent to said idler roller at substantially the midpoint of the area thereof contacted by the abrasive belt.

11. An abrasive belt machine according to claim 5 in which said roller support base comprises a pair of parallel arms which are secured to and located on opposite sides of a central member, said central member having said pin secured thereto;

12 and spacers disposed between said central member and said arms whereby said arms may be spaced apart different distances.

5 References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,578,662 12/51 Bader 51-148 2,763,103 9/58 Bader 51135 10 ROBERT c. RIORDON, Primary Examiner.

LESTER M. SWINGLE, Examiner. 

1. A BRACKET STRUCTURE FOR SUPPORTING A CONTACT WHEEL OF AN ABRASIVE BELT MACHINE COMPRISING: A BRACKET HAVING A MOUNTING SURFACE AND MEANS DEFINING A SUPPORT MEANS EXTENDING LATERALLY FROM SAID MOUNTING SURFACE; MOUNTING MEANS SLIDABLY DISPOSED ON SAID SUPPORT MEANS FOR MOVEMENT TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID MOUNTING SUFRACE AND MEANS FOR RELASABLY LOCKING SAID MOUNTING MEANS IN FIXED POSITION ON SAID SUPPORT MEANS; A CONTACT WHEEL BASE SUPPORTED ON SAID MOUNTING MEANS FOR ROTATION ABOUT A FIRST HORIZONTAL AXIS PARALLEL WITH SAID MOUNTING SURFACE; MEANS FOR RELEASABLY LOCKING SAID CNTACT WHEEL BASE IN FIXED POSITION ON SAID MOUNTING MEANS; AND A CONTACT WHEEL SUPPORTED ON SAID WHEEL BASE FOR ROTATION ABOUT A SECOND HORIZONTAL AXIS TRANSVERSE TO SAID FIRST AXIS. 